[Scene: Manor. Kitchen. Prue is there. She is trying to move a fork using her power but it's not moving. Phoebe comes in.]

Phoebe: Look at me. I am a fashion blunder. A mademoiselle don't. Oh my god, you lost your powers?

Prue: Can't lose what you never had.

(Prue astral projects out of the room.)

Phoebe: I hate when she plays astral games. Marco.

Prue: (from the attic) Polo.

[Cut to the attic. Prue is sitting in a chair reading a book on telekinesis. Phoebe walks in.]

Phoebe: What were you doing down there?

Prue: Practicing. Trying to use telekinesis in astral mode.

Phoebe: Hmm, witch exercises. Since when?

Prue: Since I studied up on Belthazor. The triad couldn't have sent us a worst demon.

Phoebe: Or one with worse skin. I would hate to find myself alone with this guy.

Prue: Yeah, well, you wouldn't last long. None of us would. That's why I'm trying to teach my astral self how to fight.

(Phoebe flops down into a chair.)

Phoebe: I have a date wit Cole.

Prue: You say that like it's a bad thing.

Phoebe: It's a lunch date.

Prue: So?

Phoebe: So, it's not a good sign. Lunch is a cheap imitation of dinner. That's why it has it's own special menu. And, you know, we kissed last week. We should be onto dinner and candle light by now.

Prue: Well, may-- ohh!

(She holds her hand against her jaw.)

Phoebe: I can't believe you haven't taken care of that tooth.

Prue: Yeah, well, I have a dentist appointment in an hour.

Phoebe: Good. I hate to see you so miserable.

Prue: Me too.

[Scene: Prue is driving in her car. She approaches road construction.]

Construction Worker: Stop right there please. (Prue stops her car. Cole appears near by.) Come ahead. (A bus drives past Prue's car. A "save the innocent" sign is painted on the side of it. An arrow lights up pointing left. Cole flicks his hand it points to right.) That way.

(The construction worker points and Prue drives on to the right. Cole disappears.)

[Time lapse. Prue is in her car calling Phoebe from her cell phone.]

Phoebe: Hello?

Prue: Hey, did you cast any give me a sign spells lately?

Phoebe: No, why?

Prue: I don't know, it just seems like somebody's dropping signs right in front of me... literally.

Phoebe: Prue, you need to ignore the signs and get yourself into a dentist.

Prue: Yeah, I know.

(Prue approaches a construction worker holding a stop sign.)

Phoebe: Uh, hello, Prue?

Prue: Uh, I'll call you back.

(She hangs up. She notices "Final Stop" painted on a building.)

[Time lapse. Prue walks up to a construction worker.]

Prue: Excuse me.

Construction Worker #2: You're with social services, right?

Prue: No, why?

Construction Worker #2: The guy won't come out of his loft up there and we're supposed to start demolition today.

Prue: Someone still lives here?

Construction Worker #2: Well, if you can call it that. Poor guy says he hasn't stepped outside in four years.

(He walks away. Prue goes inside the building. She walks up some stairs and approaches a door. She knocks on it.)

Prue: Hello?

(She opens the door but there is a door chain on it.)

Guy's voice: Close the door. G-go away.

Prue: I just wanna talk.

Guy's voice: Please, go away.

(Prue closes the door and uses her power to remove the chain. She opens the door. She sees a guy crouched down across the room. He sees her and runs to the other side of the room.)

Guy: No! Don't, don't, don't come any closer.

Prue: Are you hurt?

Guy: My head, it's exploding. The pain, you're letting it in.

Prue: What pain?

Guy: Everyone's pain, from the city, the streets. I feel it, I feel all of it.

Prue: I won't hurt you.

Guy: You are hurting me. Your pity. It's like razors inside.

Prue: Please... (She walks closer and he grabs his jaw.) I can...

Guy: Ohh, your tooth. I feel your tooth. All your pain. I can't stand it. Why didn't you just go when I asked?

Opening Credits

[Scene: Manor. Living room. Leo and Piper are there.]

Leo: I-I just can't believe you introduced me as a friend.

Piper: Okay, social malfunction. I hadn't seen the woman in years. I'm sorry.

Leo: I lost my wings for you, I've hurled my body in the path of oncoming demons, you wanted heaven, I took you there literally. I'm more than a friend.

Piper: I know, but if I had introduced you as my fiancé, she would've asked how we met, when are we getting married, where the hell my ring is. Questions that I can't answer now can I?

Leo: I suppose that's how I became a doctor too.

Piper: Leo, that's what you were. Look, what am I supposed to tell people? That's I'm engaged to a Whitelighter? Sometimes being magical kind of takes the magic right out of things.

Leo: I'm sorry you feel that way.

Piper: Oh, come on. Don't you sometimes? Every now and then I just wanna feel what it's like to live in the real world.

(Prue and Cole walk in the living room.)

Prue: Hey.

Piper: What are you two doing together?

Prue: Uh, Cole pulled up behind me.

Cole: Good timing.

(Phoebe walks in.)

Phoebe: Hey, look, my lunch date.

Cole: Sorry I'm late but I got held up on the case. You look amazing.

Phoebe: It's all part of my master plan.

Prue: Uh, Phoebe, I wanted to talk to you about the signs... uh, the assignment that we were talking about on the phone.

Phoebe: Where did it lead?

Prue: To this incredibly tragic guy who's scared to leave his own home, which might be okay if it weren't about to be torn down.

Cole: Was there a social worker there?

Prue: No, but I was told that a deputy was going over there this afternoon to evict him and he has no place to go.

Cole: Let me, um, make a call, see what I can do.

Piper: Kitchen.

Cole: Thank you.

[Cut to the kitchen. Cole walks in and picks up the phone. He dials a number. His shadow moves away from him.]

Cole: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where you going? (His shadow puts his hands on his hips.) We agreed no more triad reports, not until my plan succeeds. I can't be associated with anymore failed attempts. (Phoebe walks in.) Phoebe.

Phoebe: Hey. (She walks past the shadow.) I just need some aspirin. Prue has a toothache. (She gets the aspirin out of the cupboard.) Water. (She gets a bottle of water out of the fridge. She walks over to Cole.) You okay?

(She kisses him.)

Cole: Yeah, yeah, I just got disconnected. (Phoebe leaves the room.) Prue followed my signs. The plan will work. If it doesn't, then you can rat me out to the triad.

(His shadow bows his head and walks back in place.)

[Cut back to the living room.]

Leo: Based on everything you said, Prue, it sounds like your shut-in's a future empath.

Piper: An empath? And me without my dictionary.

Leo: They're mortals who can actually feel what other people feel. It's a rare gift. When they die they often return to earth as empaths. Where they blend into society as councilors, elders, teachers. They use their sensitivity to guide mortals, ease their pain, even heal them.

Prue: No, I don't think this guy would look at it as a gift. He's one big wrong nerve ending. You should've seen how he reacted to my toothache.

Leo: Well, it could be he's rejecting his gift. Fighting the emotions he feels instead of embracing them.

Piper: Well, he sure sounds like an innocent to me.

Leo: It'd be a shame to lose a future empath and all the good it'll do.

Prue: I couldn't care less about his after life then his current one. I know what it's like to receive a power that you just do not understand.

Phoebe: What I don't understand is who sent the signs that you followed.

Leo: It's hard to say. Could be them, could be...

Piper: Cole.

(Cole walks in.)

Cole: I got a guy at housing authority who will relocate your shut-in, if he leaves voluntarily. (He writes a number on a card and hands it to Prue.) Here's my card. Have him page me.

Prue: Thanks. Alright.

Piper: Uh, Prue, do you want us to go with you?

Prue: No, this guy can barely deal with one person let alone three, but thank you.

(Prue leaves.)

Cole: Okay then, ready for lunch?

Phoebe: Mmm.

Leo: Lunch would be great. Would you mind if we join you? I mean, it'd be great. Two couples, on the town, in the real world. What could be greater?

Cole: (to Phoebe) It's up to you.

Phoebe: Why not.

Commercial Break

[Scene: Crest Hills Psychiatric Hospital. An elderly man is sitting in a chair reading the newspaper. Father Thomas is standing next to him looking out the window. He glances over the man's shoulder and sees an article on the newspaper.]

Father Thomas: No. (He runs over to the nurse.) I have to get out.

Nurse: It's okay, Father Thomas, relax.

Father Thomas: No, you don't understand, they're tearing it down, I have to get there.

Nurse: Hold on now.

(A male nurse grabs Father Thomas.)

Father Thomas: No, please, let me go. I have to get to the building. I must protect the innocent.

Nurse: A little help here.

[Scene: At the building. Prue is there. A deputy won't let her back in.]

Deputy: I'm sorry, ma'am. I know he's scared but I personally handed him a final eviction notice two weeks ago.

Prue: Officer, please. Cole Turner, assistant district attorney, he knows the case and he wants to help but only if I can keep this guy out of jail.

Deputy: You've got three minutes.

Prue: Thank you.

(She walks inside.)

[Cut to inside. Prue uses her power and removes the door chain. She walks in.]

Prue: Hello? (The guy is sitting on a mattress on the floor.) Hey. It's me again, Prue. Took a pain reliever for my tooth. The deputy downstairs told me that your name's Vince. What's your last name?

Vince: Misery.

Prue: Well, in that case would you like some company?

Vince: That's not funny.

Prue: Yeah, neither is your situation. Vince, you know that deputy's here to arrest you for civil disobedience.

Vince: I'll die. If they put me in jail.

Prue: I believe you. That's why I came back, to find you a new home. But you have to leave here with me now.

Vince: I can't, I can't go outside.

Prue: Vince, I know what it's like. I know what it's like to have a gift that you can't control, that you never asked for. And living with that is hard, really hard.

Vince: Tell me what's hard. You avoided your pain and I feel it.

Prue: Right, then let's talk about the blessings, three words that come with having that gift. I mean, you can't even begin to...

Vince: Words, just empty words. You don't feel them in your heart, I know. You feel fear, panic, 'cause something's coming for you, something you're afraid you can't stop. Are these the blessings you want me to be thankful for?

Prue: I'm sorry.

Vince: Yes, you are. You are sorry. And confused and afraid and it's drowning me alive.

(The deputy bangs on the door.)

Deputy: Deputy, time's up, open the door.

Vince: Can't you see this is not a gift. This is a curse, I am cursed. To feel everything all the time from everyone. I can't go outside that door. Not now, not ever.

Leo: When? When the bill came. You know, Piper, in my time men opened doors for women when they walked in and they stood up when they left and they always, always paid for meals.

Piper: I just assumed that you were okay with it.

Leo: I'm not.

Piper: Well, then you should've said something.

(They walk in the living room.)

Leo: Piper, you want me in the real world but I'm not of this world.

Piper: I know, and I'm, I see your point. I'm sorry I didn't understand. (They sit on the couch.) I know this must be very difficult for you.

Leo: It is.

Piper: Leo, you have to understand I am very proud to be with you. And so proud that I need to share you with the rest of the world, my world. And you know, the other stuff we'll figure out.

(They kiss.)

Prue: (from upstairs) Not now, I have a headache.

(They stop and look at each other.)

[Scene: Cole's apartment. Cole's there packing a suitcase. There's a knock on the door. He answers it.]

Cole: Phoebe, what are you doing here?

Phoebe: I, um, I came to tell you something. Actually... (She kisses him passionately.) I was always better at show then tell.

(They continue kissing. He picks her up and she wraps her legs around his waist. They lean against the door.)

Cole: You have no idea what you're getting yourself into.

Phoebe: Neither do you.

Commercial Break

[Scene: Cole's apartment. The next morning. Cole and Phoebe are in bed. Phoebe is asleep. Cole touches her hair and she wakes up.]

Cole: Morning.

Phoebe: Good morning.

Cole: How you feeling about last night?

Phoebe: Um, last night was magical. You?

Cole: What do you think?

(Cole tickles Phoebe and they laugh.)

Phoebe: Right here, right now, this place, it's perfect. I wish the whole world were just right in this room.

Cole: Then we won't have to worry about what happened next.

(Phoebe sees his suitcase.)

Phoebe: Are you going someplace?

Cole: Maybe. I'm not sure yet.

Phoebe: You know, if you're hiding anything from me, you don't have to hide anything from me.

Cole: What makes you think I'm hiding something?

Phoebe: Hmm, for the same reason I know how you really feel about me. If you're in some kind of trouble...

Cole: I can handle it.

Phoebe: I can help you.

Cole: No, you can't. (They kiss.) I have to go.

(He sits up.)

Phoebe: Am I gonna see you again?

Cole: One way or another.

[Scene: A church. Vince is there. He pushes a woman against the wall.]

Vince: Where did Father Thomas go?

Woman: Crest Hills. It's a psychiatric hospital.

Vince: If I were capable of feelings I might enjoy the irony of that. What happened to the good Father? Pray tell.

Woman: Nervous breakdown. Three years ago. Something about losing his gift to help others.

Vince: Well, he might wanna worry about who's gonna help him and kill you.

(He grabs her around the neck and her face burns.)

[Scene: Manor. Prue is crouched down in the basement holding her head. She can feel everyone's pain. Piper and Leo come down the stairs.]

Piper: Prue? What's the matter? What are you doing in the basement?

(Prue stands up. She has tears in her eyes.)

Prue: I'm just trying to escape the emotions, they're-they're-they're everywhere. I can't get away.

Leo: What do you mean?

Prue: It's not just you and Piper, I-I-I'm picking up things from other peoples houses. They're, this people and they're in my head and they're in my heart and it just hurts. (Piper moves towards her and Prue backs into a corner.) No, just stay away, Piper, no contact.

Piper: Okay.

(Prue sits in the corner and cries.)

Prue: God, it is just so hard to concentrate, to even talk, I just want it to go away. I feel like it's gonna--

(The light breaks and the roof of the basement cracks.)

Piper: What was that?

Leo: Empathic ability. The more she feels, the more powerful she becomes.

Piper: Alright, this is a gift, we are returning it. It was not meant for you. Come on, we're gonna find this Vince guy. Come on. (They help her up.) I know, I know, you're gonna be okay.

[Scene: The building. Police are there. Piper and Leo wait outside for Phoebe. A cab pulls up and Phoebe gets out.]

Leo: (to Prue) This place is a mine field for you, you should wait here.

Prue: No, if Vince comes in I need to be there to reverse the spell.

(They walk into a room where all the patients are.)

Phoebe: That looks like the guy from my premonition. (Leo sits Prue down on a chair. Phoebe and Piper go over to Father Thomas.) Hi, excuse me, um, I know this is probably gonna sound crazy but are you an empath?

Father Thomas: You people don't have to humour me, you know. I know you don't believe me.

Piper: We've gotta snap Prue outta this or else she won't be able to reverse the spell when the demon attacks.

Father Thomas: You can't reverse the spell. Vinceres is immune to witches magic.

Phoebe: Hold on, Prue's spell worked.

Father Thomas: That's because the demon allowed it to work. To its own advantage. You'll find your spells useless now.

Phoebe: Maybe we actually don't need to reverse the spell.

Leo: What are you thinking?

Phoebe: Well, Prue's getting hit by emotions, all emotions and he powers are tied to these emotions. So maybe if she can figure out a way to channel them, then she'd be pretty unstoppable herself don't you think?

Leo: Is that possible?

Father Thomas: From what I've seen your sister is too far gone. She won't live to see the night.

Piper: Alright, that's it!

Leo: Piper...

Piper: No. I am sorry, but this man has experienced the entire rainbow of human emotions and the best he has to give us her is self pity? I don't think so. Look, you used this power to stop this demon. Now my sister has your power. Deal with it and then help us.

[Cut to the attic. Prue is still crouched down in the corner. Father Thomas and Leo walk down the stairs.]

Prue: Go away!

Father Thomas: I know how you feel. Your instinct is to pull away. Don't. Try to find an inner calm.

Prue: I can't. The pain.

Father Thomas: You're carrying a cross you were never meant to bear. I'm sorry.

Prue: Your sorrow, I can't, I can't take it. Please...

Father Thomas: You've been fighting what you feel, that's natural and it's wrong. To find your strength as an empath, you must embrace your emotion. Focus on me, the feelings are ripping you apart because you're fighting them like the demon did. A demon can't handle human emotions, you can.

[Cut to the foyer. The door flies open and Vinceres walks in.]

Vinceres: Anybody home?

Phoebe: Piper, now! (Piper freezes him but he fights through it.) Okay, I guess this is the unstoppable part.

Vinceres: Where's Father Thomas?

Piper: Plan B, plan B!

(Piper picks up a vase and smashes it over his head. He pushes her across the room. Phoebe kicks him in the head. He knocks over a table. Phoebe kicks him a few more times and he grabs her and throws her across the room.)

Phoebe: Okay, uh, do we have a plan C?

Piper: Uh, whoa. (She tries to freeze him again.) Leo, hurry!

[Cut back to the basement.]

Father Thomas: Prue, take my hand. (She does so.) My power to ease you in suffering lay in my hands. That's how I cursed the demon. You must channel the empathic gift into your power.

Prue: I can't. I can't control my power.

Father Thomas: Prue, you can do it. You have a once in a life time opportunity to feel the world's emotions. All it means to be human. The good and the bad. Don't be afraid.

[Cut back upstairs. Vinceres has Phoebe by the throat.]

Vinceres: Just tell me where the empath is and I won't kill you.

(Prue, Leo and Father Thomas walk in.]

Prue: You want him? Come and get him.

(She uses her power and he flies against the wall.)

Vinceres: How'd you do that?

Prue: If you want the empath, you're gonna have to go through me. (to Piper and Phoebe) Stay back. This is my fight.

(Prue jumps up and kicks him. She blocks his punches. She holds onto the stair railing, walks on the wall and jumps over the railing, kicking Vince in the face.)

Vince: You can't hurt me, witch. I can handle your powers. (He grabs her around the neck and lifts her off the ground. She forces his hand away from her neck and flips over him. She blocks his punches and pushes him on the floor.) I can handle your powers.

Prue: What about pain? Human pain? (She astral projects and astral Prue jumps into him. He starts yelling and then explodes. Prue looks at astral Prue and astral Prue smiles.) The voices are gone.

(Piper and Phoebe go over to her.)

Phoebe: So you're not an empath anymore.

Prue: (to Father Thomas) I'm sorry. I was hoping that we could return your gift.

Father Thomas: But you did. It appears I have the ability to understand what people are feeling even without a magic assist.

Phoebe: You kicked ass.

Prue: I did didn't I?

Commercial Break

[Scene: P3. Idol is playing. Prue and Phoebe walk up to the bar. Piper's there.]

Prue: Hey.

Piper: Hey.

Prue: You know, I can not wait for this Anovacane to wear off. (She sticks out her tongue.) Can you unfreeze my tongue?

Piper: You're lucky that dentist even saw you.

Phoebe: Okay, there's one thing I don't get. How did you vanquish Vinceres?

Prue: Well, it was something that Father Thomas said to me. Vinceres was trying to fight off the feelings of an empath because demons can not handle human emotion.

Phoebe: And so you astral projected into his body.

Prue: Yes, carrying the emotional baggage of half of the city. I forced him to feel and he couldn't take it.

(Leo comes up to them.)

Leo: Hey.

Prue: Hey.

Leo: I just left Father Thomas. Got the connections of the -----. They're gonna let him return to his church.

Piper: Thank you. You're an angel.

Leo: Well, not technically.

Prue: Eww.

Phoebe: So I guess the only other question is who sent the signs that lead Prue to the demon?

Prue: Well, probably the triad. Or Belthazor, which means we have to be careful the next time we get a sign.

Piper: Yeah, but Prue, you got quite a power boost there. Are you gonna miss it?

Prue: Yeah, but I did get to stop an unstoppable demon. Got a little taste of what my future powers are gonna be like. I'm on the right path. Ooh, speaking of paths... what's up with you and your Cole dependencies? Where do you guys stand?

Phoebe: Ohh, I have no idea. I think I'm gonna go find out right now. Yeah.